Ximena Sariñana was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and raised in Mexico City to producer/director Fernando Sariñana and screenwriter Carolina Rivera. When she was two years old, Sariñana attended an Ella Fitzgerald concert, claiming this to be the beginning of her interest in music and one of her biggest influences. She soon started listening to other artists such as Paul Simon and Tracy Chapman. She would often be seen singing and dancing and dressed up in costumes as a child. When Sariñana was seven years old, her neighbor, singer Cecilia Toussaint, suggested she should take singing lessons with her teacher, Ricardo Sánchez, who instructed some of Mexico’s biggest talents. She also took up piano lessons with Hanna Cot. In 1994, Sariñana acted in the film, “Hasta Morir,” which was produced by her father. Sariñana was educated at the Academia de Musica Fermatta, a performing arts school and Edron Academy, a private multi-lingual school, both located in Mexico City.